Star Trek Adventures

[Pericles]

I think it is interesting that everyone is commenting on every other system for Trek EXCEPT the one in question the new 2d20 system under playtest. My group ran through the test adventure and I have my opinions, but it would be nice to see what others think of the NEW system, not opinions about the ones that are now out of print.

[Chris Donovan]

Being honest, if it weren't for the screwed up way licenses are structured, I'd be more in favor of continuing an existing system than coming up with yet another one. The wheel doesn't need inventing again. There's already plenty of crunch to go around. What we need is new fluff, and that is my primary interest in this new game.

So, in the spirit of talking about the new game as asked, what are the playtesters' opinion on the new setting material in terms of lore and worldbuilding?

[Pericles]

My group didn't really get into the fluff and world building as the playtest adventure didn't go into any of that. The Narenda station stuff was fairly well received, but it was pretty thin and wasn't a part of the adventure. I got lots of feedback about the rules, theirs' and mine.

[D.S.McBride]

For myself, I am quite content to dispense with other systems if the new one manages to hold water. Icon did the job perfectly well, in my opinion; a couple of house rules to deal with the Drama Die issue, replacing the starship combat system with FASA's and then, later, Coda's - I would suspect that Modiphius is perfectly aware that Narrators/GMs/Crew/players are going to mix and match and play with the gaming engine recipe as much as is humanly feasible. Having looked over the system as much as I have so far, my primary concern is in ensuring that the character attributes will match the series/movies species specifics as much as possible; e.g., just because someone has a stand-out Resilience score does not mean that they should be equally tough physically and emotionally - I'm sure we all remember on-screen characters who certainly cut an intimidating physical presence but were a definite lightweights when it came to sticktoit-iveness. Jean-Luc Picard serves an object lesson in this respect: tough for a human, sure, but your out-of-the-gate Nausicaan can do him a treat. However, when it comes to a willpower contest, I'd be hard pressed to see the Nausicaan put up any more than token resistance.

Nonetheless, I'm perfectly willing to work through what Modiphius has got before I start doing the "Meh...not as good as [system x] was" bit. My hope is just that we can get something that works off the skills-n-stats paradigm rather than the dreaded class-n-level horrorshow that we were subjected to going on fifteen years ago.

[Pericles]

The stats of the pre-gens were decent and fully balanced, but my group's issues were with the Momentum mechanic. We all felt it was a forced and artificial way of getting things done. This was especially true for beginning characters who just didn't seem to be able to accomplish anything without using Momentum and Determination for all but the simplest tasks. As a GM I did not like all the options for Improving the Odds because it complicated everything and the players all felt that with so many choices, they spent most of their time meta-gaming odds rather than role playing. Overall, my group's impression of the Alpha version of the rules was they were an epic fail.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

As a GM I did not like all the options for Improving the Odds because it complicated everything and the players all felt that with so many choices, they spent most of their time meta-gaming odds rather than role playing. Overall, my group's impression of the Alpha version of the rules was they were an epic fail.

I was mulling over trying the first adventure with my online group (more amenable to one-shots than my face-to-face group) but this definitely sounds like they wouldn't like it. Back to Gumshoe or OpenQuest it is...

[Chris Donovan]

Meta-question and a bit of a sidebar: game mechanics are not copyright-able, only specific presentations of them, so why does every game license seem to feel the need to "reinvent the wheel"? Why not just produce new material with an existing mechanic?

[Pericles]

If I had to guess why company's feel the need to design new rules is simple human nature. They want the game to be "theirs" and what better way to put your fingerprints all over a setting, than to create a new system to use your product?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Meta-question and a bit of a sidebar: game mechanics are not copyright-able, only specific presentations of them, so why does every game license seem to feel the need to "reinvent the wheel"? Why not just produce new material with an existing mechanic?

Probably because they don't like the old wheel. A lot of those old wheels suck.

EDIT: or FASA just liked the granularity of d% better than 2d6.

[AllenS]

Does anyone have the Bellerophon and Thunderchild adventures and could I get them?

Allen

they have been obtained

[D.S.McBride]

Been a while since I posted something on here - and matters, in terms of mechanics/game engine discussion and so forth - seem to have gone quiet over the last while, but wanted to note that I got an e-mail from Modiphius regarding the game set now being available for purchase. The Borg Cube box set - and yes, I do want the whole damn thing - is going to run a good $350+ Canadian (and for the U.S. population, don't bother trying to do an equivalency; just figure it'd be about enough to pick up a second-hand lawnmower) and will require a bit of financial sleight-of-hand to pull off. Nonetheless, I am delighted that Star Trek has, once again, inspired someone and someones to allow us to re-enter the game-playing field; after the Decipher horrorshow (Sideshow Bob "Geeyaarrhuh", regardless of how long ago it was, relatively) I was left shaking my head sadly, knowing that wouldn't be the end of Star Trek RPG development - even Warren Holland and His Crew of Dunderheads' corporate incompetence (and yes, I will take the leap and deign to call it such) couldn't put a stick in the spokes that would stop those wheels from turning forever - but knowing it'd be several years, at least, before someone took up the torch again. My thanks to Modiphius and all its crew for their courage in taking this on, and hoping that this nascent game system will inspire this site to full activity and exchanging views and points with each other and the Dev team.

[Sea Tyger]

So, I've been running Alpha v1.36 on RPOL for the past few months. My report is that the system is a bit too clunky, with the "standard" 2d20 not that standard. Momentum-spending decisions halted the flow of the game (exacerbated by the fact it's pbp), and it felt like there were too many rules to learn in a short time.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of challenge dice, but I understand them (basically, they're the equivalent to "damage" dice in my mind); I'm not keen on the overly-complicated extended test procedures, and it took some time to get used to the idea that you only roll 1d20 to assist, when you start with 2d20 for all other tasks. I like that ship systems assist the character, even though it's an extra roll each time to resolve a task.

All-in-all, it's a functional system, though it will take a bit longer to be fully proficient with the system (as compared to CODA, which had a familiar formula).

I will be getting, at least, the core book and the three dice sets, and the supplements as they come out. If they had a TOS version of the Borg Cube set, I'd probably be splurging on that...

[Cut]

Well, well, a bit late to the (playtest) show, but look who found his way back home: me

Great to see that the forums are still here and I really hope that the new system will bring back not only us old time users but bring some new blood as well.

I'm very much thrilled by the prospect of a new game, although I missed out on any of the playtest materials.

Right now I'm thinking about calling in all sort of favores to get one of those limited edition Borg Cubes into my collection.

It is good to be back and I really love the fact, that some of our old timers are actually writing for the game (again).

Seems that the pre-order books should reach their new homes in August, with the general release being slated for September 2017.

Regards, Nico

[RaconteurX]

They're now taking pre-orders for the physical product (your choice of standard issue or collector's edition), which net you immediate access to the PDF. Nice looking book...

[AllenS]

As of today, the PDF of the Core Rulebook is available on DriveThruRPG.com for a shade over $15. I have had my PDF for a little over a week (got it via the preorder) and have actually run the game twice. I really like this game. The book is amazing; beautiful design with great art throughout.

Allen